UPDATE: AP is reporting that President Obama is now canceling plans to meet with Russian President Putin next month at the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, in part because of US concerns about “human rights.” An administration official just confirmed to me that Russia’s crackdown on its gay and trans community was part of the reason for the cancelation of the summit.

The video of Obama’s appearance is at the bottom of this article. (For foreign readers, the Tonight Show is likely America’s most popular, and influential, late-night television talk show. And Jay Leno, therefore, is quite well-known, and well-liked, in America.)

First, when answering a question about NSA leaker Edward Snowden, the President talks about larger problems we’re having with Russia, then he invokes the Cold War. While Obama doesn’t directly mention the gay issue yet, it’s interesting that he would accuse Russia of slipping back into “Cold War” – aka “Soviet” – thinking:

THE PRESIDENT: And in some ways it’s reflective of some underlying challenges that we’ve had with Russia lately. A lot of what’s been going on hasn’t been major breaks in the relationship, and they still help us on supplying our troops in Afghanistan; they’re still helping us on counterterrorism work; they were helpful after the Boston bombing in that investigation. And so there’s still a lot of business that we can do with them.

But there have been times where they slip back into Cold War thinking and a Cold War mentality. And what I consistently say to them, and what I say to President Putin, is that’s the past and we’ve got to think about the future, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to cooperate more effectively than we do.

Then Leno brings up Putin’s former work for the KGB:

JAY LENO: And Putin seems to me like one of those old-school KGB guys.

JAY LENO: Well, something that shocked me about Russia — and I’m surprised this is not a huge story — suddenly, homosexuality is against the law. I mean, this seems like Germany: Let’s round up the Jews, let’s round up the gays, let’s round up the blacks. I mean, it starts with that. You round up people who you don’t — I mean, why is not more of the world outraged at this?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ve been very clear that when it comes to universal rights, when it comes to people’s basic freedoms, that whether you are discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, you are violating the basic morality that I think should transcend every country. And I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, what’s happening in Russia is not unique. When I traveled to Africa, there were some countries that are doing a lot of good things for their people, who we’re working with and helping on development issues, but in some cases have persecuted gays and lesbians. And it makes for some uncomfortable press conferences sometimes. But one of the things that I think is very important for me to speak out on is making sure that people are treated fairly and justly, because that’s what we stand for. And I believe that that’s a precept that’s not unique to America, that’s something that should apply everywhere. (Applause.)

JAY LENO: Do you think it will affect the Olympics?

THE PRESIDENT: I think Putin and Russia have a big stake in making sure the Olympics work, and I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn’t tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently. They’re athletes, they’re there to compete. And if Russia wants to uphold the Olympic spirit, then every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it. (Applause.)

JAY LENO: Good enough for me.

A few points to consider. The fact that President Obama has now weighed in personally about Russia’s anti-gay crackdown is a huge deal. It helps to both generate additional publicity (adds a gravitas to the issue that the media appreciates) and puts additional pressure on Russia, and the International Olympic Committee. Second, Obama’s comments about the KGB, the Cold War, and then comparing Russia to Africa, in terms of its stance on human rights, will likely not go over well in the Kremlin. The President’s words are actually quite a stinging rebuke.

And I have to give credit to Jay Leno as well. In the past, people have expressed concerns about Leno’s penchant for telling what can only be described as “f*g jokes” (I use the asterisk so as not to run afoul of filters that block ads on bigoted Web sites). But, Leno not only facilitated the President directly speaking out on this issue, Leno also chose to put the issue in stark terms, invoking Nazi Germany. And he’s not wrong.

The lesson from the Holocaust is not that it was so unique that it could never happen again (if so, it would simply be a historical anomaly that, while horrifying, could safely be forgotten). The lesson was that it could happen anywhere, if good men refuse to recognize, and stand up to, evil.

Here’s the video of the relevant portion of Obama’s appearance on Leno last night:

John AravosisFollow me on Twitter: @aravosis | @americablog | @americabloggay | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn. John Aravosis is the editor of AMERICAblog, which he founded in 2004. He has a joint law degree (JD) and masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown (1989); and worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. Frequent TV pundit: O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Bio, article archive.

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“For foreign readers, the Tonight Show is likely America’s most popular, and influential, late-night television talk show. And Jay Leno, therefore, is quite well-known, and well-liked, in America.”

You’re going out of your way to misinform “foreign readers”. Leno isn’t well-liked because he’s on a popular and influential show … that doesn’t even make sense. He’s well-liked because he’s a nice guy, and that’s why he got the show and why it’s popular … as popular as a show that comes on at 11:05pm on weekdays can be. As for “influential” … the show is 99.9% show business fluff, and Leno is an uninformed soft interviewer; interviews of Presidents and other leading persons outside show business are infrequent.

Michael

Um, sure. Edward Snowdon had nothing to do with this.

Jim Olson

I can’t imagine a worse fate than being stuck in an elevator for an hour with either of them.

shawn

Winter Olympics are the Winter Olympics….I simply was highlighting the obvious…Welcome to 2013.. Where the winter olympics exist and deserve equal appreciation of course! Have a nice day :)

cole3244

pres 44, more walk and less talk please.

emjayay

So, he was thinking about the last Olympics. So, big deal.

He didn’t say those particular sports would be at Sochi. He was making a general point. The summer type sports are most associated with the Olympics. The original Greek Olympics were summer type games. Modern Olympics were all summer games from the start in 1898, adding winter Olympics in 1924.

AND YOUR POINT WAS???

emjayay

Video has been removed by the user.

shawn

Only problem I have is that Obama thinks the winter olympics in Sochi will have swimming, track, and gymnastics…..Is this real life??? WINTER OLYMPICS ARE IN RUSSIA!!!

hefetone

Yep that’s the one. My wife is incensed about the GMO thing…bees, the effect on the food we eat, etc. Along with fracking and all the other things our government does to enable the destruction of the world, these issues need to be front and center. Thanks John.

http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

I hadn’t even heard of it, googled it when i saw the comment. Even if it were true, I really do consider human rights to be a step above most issues (though, fair enough, global warming is the potential end of all humanity, so that tends to fit the human rights bill as well).

FLL

Thank you for the link. People have been quoting that rumor for a while now.

But then we have Putin acting more like a progressive pointing out how the Obama administration has supported Monsanto.

chris10858

Im really glad Obama went on Leno and spoke out. The only problem or concern I have is that Obama always seems to be quick to make a public statement like this but then when we ask him to make a move on something that is clearly within his power as President, it seems our calls fall on deaf ears. (Still waiting on that Executive Order against LGBT discrimination, Mr. President!)

If Putin is anything, he is vain about his own self-image. I think our best strategy is to cause that image to take a beating on the world stage. I think this is the best way to get him to move to turn back some of the vitriol coming out of Russia against gay people.

chris10858

He might not be as good as good ole Johnny Carson but if I had to get stuck in an elevator with either him or Ltterman for an hour, Im sure the conversation would go much smoother with Leno. :)

Indigo

John . . . yes, Jay Leno is well-known in the States. To say that he is also well-liked stretches the point a tad too far. :-)